Almost Ready

Brad and I are working on last minute details for Christmas. We brought in two tables from the dining porch and arranged the seating for dinner tomorrow. We discovered that our long tablecloths are riddled with holes --- I think Mama used to call that genteel shabbiness.  I've worked on one food item each day this week so that part has not been overwhelming --- getting everything served on time might be, though.

I tried to do an arrangement for the table and it turned out fairly well.

Also decided to try putting some cedar garland on the driveway entry porch. It is not really a garland and it turned out so-so. I'll get better with practice.

At Thanksgiving a high-heel shoe with a nail protruding from the heel added some "distress" marks to our new kitchen floor. So we have purchased some additional runners and hope that solution will protect the floors, since we don't want them to be a source of stress, but rather a source of enjoyment. Our wood burning stove is due to arrive next week.

 Eddie is in North Carolina tonight with some of Kelly's extended family. He texted me about how he remembers as a child sleeping in Nina's room on Christmas Eve and how he would wake up multiple times during the night wondering if Santa Claus had come. Those were happy times on Swansfield Road!

Chasing deer can get you in trouble

Yesterday afternoon Faith managed to sustain a large gash to her chest. Brad took her to the animal emergency room, where he was told that a piece of wood had penetrated 4 inches into her chest --- fortunately she has rather a barrel chest. It was said to have barely missed a lung. The vet said at this time of year country dogs love to chase deer, and they forget to notice obstacles in the foreground. Faith must have run right over a tree limb with a piece that stuck up in the air --- her wound was filled with wood splinter debris. She is on restrictions for the next two weeks!! She came home with a pink ace bandage! We think she will be okay in the long run, but the unexpected charges sure cut into our Christmas funds! She's not supposed to go up and down stairs, or run, or jump on furniture, etc.

Today I bought the beef tenderloin for Christmas dinner. Brad and I worked on potato casserole for the meal (he helped with grating the potatoes and the cheese) and put that in the freezer. I've been wrapping gifts, and so far I don't feel real stressed. Hope that trend continues! We ordered the wood-burning stove for the kitchen and it is due to be delivered next week.

Christmas decorating continues

Just think! This may be the very first year that Hanshill has been decorated for Christmas. Certainly in my lifetime that is true. So I will show you a few items of our decorating so far. Here's the tree in place with lights, but ornaments yet to come.

 Below is  a different view of the tree, with decorating completed.

I made a door decoration. It wasn't supposed to look like a wreath, but it does, partly because when Brad hung it, he smushed the piece of pine on the top that was supposed to elongate the appearance. But still, it's okay.

Some of the materials came from Hanshill (but not the boxwood).

  We hung the Moravian star ornament outside to substitute for the normal light source.

 I've been meaning to report on where we put the wonderful wrought iron plaque that Billy and Pat Williams gave to us. I wanted it on the house; Brad wanted it at the gate. You can see who won. It's a little bit hard to read the date of "1925" in this photo.

We are expecting to have 20 people here for midday dinner on Christmas day. That's just a week away. I'll be trying to make at least one dish for the meal each day this week. Tonight I made cauliflower mashed potatoes for the low-carb devotees in the family. Tomorrow I plan to make a hermit cake, and also some bran muffins which I will mail to Eddie for his birthday. I have finished my gift shopping; most of that was done online. The UPS man will know me well by the end of this week! I have some wrapping to do, plus cooking, plus a small amount of cleaning. All in all, it will be a busy week, but looking toward special time with some of the family next weekend.

Late Fall Planting

Brad and I went to Rainfrost Nursery yesterday. We bought a few bushes and wanted to get them into the ground before it gets frozen. Our research online tells us that it is okay to plant in December before the ground freezes. The lady at Rainfrost said the same thing. Hope that proves to be correct!

We took a chance and bought rhododendron, knowing that deer may feast on them. Why is it that this plant does just fine up on the Blue Ridge Parkway? Aren't there lots of deer up there???

The second purchase was hydrangeas, our Christmas gift from Nina and Charlie. They are the Nikko Blue variety, which we've had at our last two homes. Brad put them in the lower end of the "pretty place" garden. He encountered many, many rocks, and theorized that when the house was originally built the unused rocks from the creek were piled here and covered. The rocks he dug up will come in handy to re-edge this garden area. The bush stems are a bit difficult to see since they are bare. I tried to catch the 3 bushes with the sun rays hitting them.

A few weeks ago I bought two hawthorne bushes on a ridiculous close-out sale at Lowe's. Would have bought more if they had been available. The goal with the rhododendron and hawthorne is to add some winter greenery to the yard.

I also bought these cabbage or kale plants. When I bought them the centers were white. Anne told me that exposure to the sun would turn the centers purple, and obviously she kneweth of which she spaketh!

We put them in the circle near where the large tree used to be near the house. We want to discourage driving and parking in the circle. This requires quite a re-training with our family, since the circle has been fair game for years.
This week I'll be working on Christmas decorations, and finishing gift shopping/ordering. Next week I'll concentrate on cooking.

"It's beginning to look .............."

...............................Well, not "a lot like Christmas," yet, but maybe a little bit like Christmas.

Saturday we drove to Morris Orchard and selected a Christmas tree. We had the option of tagging it and going back later to cut it down. The weather was delightfully mild and sunny that day, but who knows what it might be like next weekend, so we decided to go ahead and cut it down (making only one trip instead of two). Actually the proprietor would have chopped it for us but Brad took a saw along for the ride. We also reasoned that if we had bought a tree at Dave's or other local sales outlets, the tree would have been cut by now, so were betting that ours will last fine. Brad put it in water right away and it is sitting on the drinking porch. We will bring it inside soon. By the way, until Christmas Morris Orchard is open on Sunday afternoons ---- normally they do not open at all on Sunday.

The same day we cut down a small cedar from the woods on the property. I'd been thinking it would be fun to have one on the first landing of the staircase. At Target one day I noticed they had a string of 50 lights for only $2.29. That fit into my scrooge-y outlook about spending money on Christmas decor. In general it is something I prefer not to do. I always think the money would be better spent on charitable giving at this time of year than decorations for personal pleasure and enjoyment.  But in my mind I could take $2.29 out of my grocery money, select a cheaper cut of meat for dinner, and therefore justify the purchase and feel only a twinge of guilt.

I thought the tree would look pretty in a pot, or "cachepot" so decided upon this one that was a gift from Sue last year. We filled it with small rocks, sand and water. Anybody who wants is welcome to "shop" for a tree at Hanshill!

P.S. Somehow buying a Christmas tree does not fall into the category that nags at my conscience.

post-thanksgiving

It's been over a week since my last post. I caught a cold last Sunday, as everyone was returning home after Thanksgiving and the house had turned quiet again. I've had so much to say that it has been overwhelming, but with my low energy I haven't composed my thoughts into anything sensible. Mostly I keep thinking that it is so wonderful to live here and that everyday experiences are such a blessing. It was great to have our Thanksgiving with Nina and Charlie, and Eddie and Kelly. It was interesting to see how the house works with more than just two people in residence. At night the house seemed quieter than in yesteryear. Snoring in the next room is less bothersome. The house is not totally soundproof but improvements have been made in this area. One great change is how the heating systems work so well and the house seems warm, and un-drafty.

The kitchen pleases me greatly. I try to keep the granite surfaces free of clutter because I just love seeing them  for their own sake, unadorned so to speak.  I can watch the birds during the day while I am in the kitchen. We moved the feeders from the summer location that is best viewed from the eating porch. Situated there, they were almost impossible to see from inside, so we moved them leftward, to over near the sandbox, so they are visible from all of the kitchen windows, as well as from the sunroom if one stands near the windows which overlook the front yard. We have talked about rigging up another feeder that would be visible when sitting in the sunroom. Still contemplating how best to do that.

The water pressure here is not so great. The meter is out by Elon Road, and the water is piped down a hill and back up a hill to reach the house. Brad and I have been dealing with this fact okay, but with more people on hand, it is a bit more of a nuisance. We've been looking at booster pumps for our water service.

Another purchase still to be made is a wood burning stove for the kitchen. We've been dragging our heels on that. Money has about run dry! In addition, we have not been able to use the fireplace in the living room, pending the acquisition of a new fireplace screen, one that covers the opening completely. It seems that we will need to have one custom made.

Nina and Kelly worked on a design for the wedding invitations. They are going to be so pretty! The weather cooperated so that we took walks around the property. One day we took the dogs to the pond. Another day Brad walked Charlie over to the "back 40" between Fawn Creek and Harris Creek. Faith and Stella loved the exercise. Eddie and Brad did a good job of frying a turkey breast outside in a fryer. Nina and I went through her baby book together. I had written an account of my labor with Nina and she was very interested to hear that. The book went back to Ann Arbor with her.

Nina re-positioned a couple of arrangements in the house. Her ideas were great!

 Now that my cold is gone I will hope to post again soon.

One more thing. This morning as we were having breakfast we were puzzled by total quiet on the bird feeders ---- none in sight whatsoever. We thought to ourselves either it's too cold for them to be out yet, or there's a  hawk in the area. After about 15 minutes we witnessed a large bird flying across the pasture out front, right to left and landing in the big tree that is in the pasture in the general direction of the dam. We pulled out the binoculars and discovered not one, but two, hawks, perched in that tree, but could not tell what kind. After about ten minutes, Brad walked outside into the front yard and headed their way. One flew away, and about 15 seconds later the other did, too. They were very obviously a pair of red-tailed hawks. Mystery solved!  It took awhile before the local bird population began to stir, but they finally did.